The invention relates to a passenger airbag in a motor vehicle comprising a module installed behind the instrument panel of the vehicle, a disk-shaped gas generator mounted within the module, a deflector that at least partially surrounds the gas-discharge openings located on the perimeter of the disk-shaped gas generator, and an airbag that is connected to the gas generator and/or the deflector and folded into the module. The module is installed behind at least one opening flap designed in the instrument panel.
An airbag with the abovementioned characteristics is described in US 2002/0149177 A1; in which a disk-shaped gas generator with gas-discharge openings arranged on its perimeter is arranged within a module casing in such a manner that the folded airbag engages the gas generator and its gas inlet openings and is thereby connected to the gas generator and is folded up on the surface of the disk-shaped gas generator.
A pot-shaped deflector surrounds the disk-shaped gas generator on the side opposite the folded airbag and its top open edge is directed into the connected airbag so that the deflector deflects the gas, which escapes radially from the gas-discharge openings of the gas generator, and guides it into the connected airbag. The disk-shaped gas generator is designed to be installed behind the instrument panel of a motor vehicle in such a manner that the plane of the disk is aligned parallel to the plane of the instrument panel and the opening flap thereon.
This mounting position of the disk-shaped gas generator has the disadvantage that, due to the large diameter of the disk-shaped generator inherent in its design, the module casing required therefor must be built accordingly large. In modern vehicles, there are constraints on available installation space because less and less installation space for airbag modules is available due, in particular, to the growing demand for ventilation channels built in behind the instrument panel. If airbag modules with tubular gas generators are built narrower, then other disadvantages are associated with the use of tubular gas generators, such as more expenses for sealing and connecting the airbag within the modular casing.
The objective of the invention is therefore to design a generic passenger airbag having a disk-shaped gas generator in such a manner that the dimensions of the module and consequently of the required installation space behind the instrument panel of the vehicle are reduced.
The solution of this objective, including advantageous embodiments and further developments of the invention, results from the contents of the claims that follow this description.